More from the Family Circus (make that circus family)

I’ve been fascinated by the Tom Thumb “Fairy Wedding” photos since I found the first one. Now that I’ve discovered that there were multiple poses sold, I’m building a collection of them, trying to see if I can find them all. So far, I have four Brady images from the wedding, an unsigned image of Commodore Nutt and what appears to be a regular girl child without back-stamp, and another Brady image of Tom Thumb, his wife, Commodore Nutt and what I’m guessing is a circus giant (he appears to be twice the size of Charles Stratton – Tom Thumb – who was 3 feet 4 inches tall at his death, making the giant next to him in the neighborhood of 7 feet tall).

They were made to be sold as souvenirs. And yes, the wedding was real. They remained married until their deaths. This may have been a celebrity wedding in 1863, but it was nothing like today’s celebrity weddings- although they did capitalize on it and reap tons of publicity off of it, the marriage was no sham. If anything, we can probably blame PT Barnum for the Kardashian’s wedding fiasco/extravaganza, because this one initiated the trend, and he was the one who concocted the notion of making money off the wedding. Remember, both Lavinia and Charles Warren Stratton were on contract to PT Barnum’s sideshow. Unlike the Kardashians, though, President and Mrs. Lincoln came to see the Strattons at the Willard Hotel when they came to DC, instead of the other way round.

About DC Photoartist

Scott Davis is a large format photographer working with antique and historic photographic processes. His work has been exhibited internationally. He is a published author on platinum/palladium printing, and teaches classes in platinum/palladium and gum bichromate techniques. His personal work includes the DC cityscape and the human figure.